The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dahlia plant botanically known as Dahlia variabilis and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Baldelhon’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Rijsenhout, the Netherlands during May 2002. The objective of the breeding program was the development of freely flowering Dahlia cultivars with large flowers and a moderately vigorous growth habit.
The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar was the proprietary Dahlia variabilis breeding selection designated 1151, not patented, characterized by its white-colored ray florets and upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar was ‘Dapasuje’, U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 11/168,196, characterized by its deep red and orange bicolored ray florets and compact growth habit. The new Dahlia was discovered and selected by the inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during May 2003 in a controlled environment at Rijsenhout, the Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since May 2003 at Rijsenhout, the Netherlands and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.